The gummy has gained new ground
Gummies are not only used as candy nowadays. With added ingredients they have become an alternative to pills and capsules. They are enhanced with active ingredients to make healthy living more attractive: vitamins for boosting the immune system, calcium that helps strengthen the bones, melatonin to aid sleep, supplements that improve hair, collagen for improving skin. Vitamins in gummy form are experiencing growing success in the consumer market. They taste better than any other vitamin product, because a variety of delicious flavors can be added that are just asgood as their candy counterparts. They are also easy to consume: soft, chewy and enjoyable.
The traditional vitamin tablet is now packed attractively in a candy – think of a gummy. This is for example very practical for kids who have trouble taking a pill. The vitamin gummy market is expected to grow at a rate of over 12.5% between 2020 and 2027 due in large part to its popularity in North America and Asia Pacific, the fastest-growing and second-largest consumer market. This means new opportunities for both traditional confectionery manufacturers as well as the nutraceutical industry.
Gummy counting and filling machines
So I was not surprised when in September 2021, at the Pack Expo in Las Vegas, about half the visitors at our booth wanted to learn more about gummy counting and filling machines. Nutraceuticals are a growing trend. And where food and pharma products meet, Cremer comes in to prove its leading expertise in both markets. In pharma we are the benchmark in tablet and capsule counting – for over thirty years. Our strength is the ability to provide standardized and also customized solutions for counting and packaging in production lines, both in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industry. Any system can thus be accommodated with customer specific options or modifications in order to offer the perfect solution for the product.
Vitamin gummy production
Considering the process of accurately counting vitamin gummies and deposit them in bottles, we know this is easier said than done… It is complex. We recognize that vitamin gummy manufacturers prefer gummies to be accurately c
ounted. A bottle that promises 48 tablets must actually contain that number.
We can achieve this with our advanced technologies and counting and filling machines which are still developed entirely in-house. But, be careful with this product. A challenge arises, because gummies are sugared products. When you spread out sugar, you get a kind of syrup that hardens and sticks. If that happens in your machine on moving parts, problems occur. Cremer has come up with a solution for this that guarantees comfortable counting and bottle filling with minimized maintenance operations. Sorry, we keep this secret… We know that nutraceutical manufacturers want to process their products fast: up to 3,000 pieces per minute, and also 24/7. Fast and accurate, that is what they demand. And we can manage that process.
Candy gummy counting
Candy gummies go in bags. The pharma industry is used to bottles and that is where they meet our specialism. The vitamin manufacturer suddenly enters the world of his colleague who produces candy gummies. The former says: my product has to be counted. The candy manufacturer thinks it can be done by weight. No, says the vitamin man, I prefer candy gummy counting. And we can take care of this. Cremer has a leading position in the market with counting and filling machines for the pharmaceutical industry, but also for food, non-food and the agricultural industry.
Currently we have a pilot running in the US together with a bottle handling company called Spee-Dee. The project involves different numbers of gummies, on average 60, which have to be counted. Next they have to be deposited in bottles with relatively small neck openings. A dry product falls in easily, but gummies are soft, which is more difficult. We do the separating and counting. On releasing the product Spee-Dee takes care of controlled in-motion filling. This way each minute as many as 150 bottles can be filled.
Counting instead of weighing
Product counting can be regarded as the most efficient and cost effective alternative to modern weighing and pick & place systems for a wide variety of products. Cremer has been involved in many technical challenges our worldwide customers encountered. That said, we frequently notice that our expertise is often requested in a late stage of the production process, which is not ideal for the perfect solution. We understand that a customer preparing something new will first focus on things like marketing, packaging or product taste. But when everything is ready, it turns out that quantities should not be based on weighing, but on counting. And when they approach us much has already been defined in the process. Starting together would have made the best of each expertise.
Cremer supports vitamin gummy production
If you want to count, talk with us first. Get in touch with us and our experts will assist you with any challenge you have in your vitamin gummy production line. Feel free to contact us!